Peach Creek
by Celestial-moon-fire
Summary: Another clichéd high school story about two people realizing they aren't as bad as they thought. A mix of the normal genres, some romance and friendship. Mushy stuff you don't want to read. So I have to ask... Why ARE you reading? *smirk*
1. Chapter 1

So I started this last year, during the Summer. And now I decided to post it, so, have fun.

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><p>Double D wasn't sure what he felt as he passed through the tall double doors to what may be the best, or worst, four years of his life. Peach Creek High School, a school he could never wait to enter. And now that he could, his emotions were conflicted. Should he be excited, afraid, nervous? Perhaps a mix of all three would be appropriate.<p>

The situation at peach Creek High School was said to be nearly the same as peach Creek Middle School. A bitter rivalry with Lemon Brook high School, the same popularity contests, and the standard fare for the less popular kids. Like himself, and the two boys he trailed after as they navigated the hall.

His two best, and only friends. Eddy, still shorter than half their class and greedy for coins. And Ed, still the tall one of the trio and obsessed with his monsters and mutants. Most people they knew didn't like them in the least, and their reputation was sure to spread like wildfire soon enough. Eddy and his annoying ways, Ed and his idiocy, and Double D himself for his general nerdiness. The trio was most certainly not going to be very popular, and especially if the shorter Ed was still obsessed with scamming his peers out of their quarters.

Double D, caught up in his thoughts, didn't realize that Ed had stopped clear in front of him. "My apologies, Ed." He said as he steadied himself.

"It's okay Double D." Ed replied with a large toothy grin. He turned his gaze on the locker in front of him.

'Oh dear, when was the last time he brushed his teeth?' Double D wondered as he watched him struggled with the lock.

"Stupid cheap locks." Eddy grumbled, pulling on his locker door with annoyance plastered on his features. It was the same problem Ed was facing just beside him. Amazingly, the two had lockers next to each other, while he himself had to visit the other side of the school near his home room.

"Double D," Ed whined, "My locker will not open and I said please like a good boy always should." Double sighed, lips curling upwards in a smile.

"Let me have a go at it then. What's the number?" Ed gave him the three number sequence. Double D worked for a moment, until a click sounded and proved the lock was undone. The door swung open easily. "You must have turned in the wrong direction, Ed." Ed blinked, then pulled him into a hug that left him gasping for clean air.

"Geeze Ed, don't strangle him!" Eddy rolled his eyes. "He hasn't fixed my locker yet." Ed pouted and released his friend, who had already produced a small can of air freshener, breathing in the sweet perfumed scent of tropical island flowers.

"Hurry up sockhead. My locker ain't gonna open up on its own." Double D sent him a look as he slid the can back into the water bottle slot of his messenger bag. Double D lectured him on the virtues of patience and correct grammar as he filled in the given combination, in the correct direction this time, swinging open the door.

"Yea, yea, whatever. C'mon, we have class to get to and mom says if I get in trouble on the first day I'm grounded." He stuffed a jacket in the tall space and slammed the door shut, starting down the hall. Double D and Ed followed him, trying to keep up in the crowded hall.

"I believe this is where we part, gentlemen." Double D said as they reached an intersection. "I will see you both at lunch. Please try not to get into trouble on the first day." Eddy rolled his eyes and said 'see ya later, sockhead' before dragging Ed to their shared homeroom. Double D himself continued down the opposite hallway until he reached his locker number, coincidentally right across the door to his homeroom.

The warning bell had yet to ring when he entered only moments after arrival. The room was, for the most part, devoid of student life, aside from the two girls in the back, fawning over a magazine cover. He took a seat near the door and waited for the bell.

Soon more and more students began to file in, none catching his attention until a familiar face entered the room. 'Oh dear, is that Kevin?' The face in question was indeed Kevin. He sat in the desk next to him.

"What are you doing here, dork?" He sneered at Double D.

"Well this is my homeroom, so I'm-"

"I know that." Kevin interrupted, eyes rolling. "Never mind." Double D blinked in confusion, looking back toward the door when Kevin didn't say anything else.

The bell rang soon after that and the classroom was now full of students, and their homeroom teacher, Mr. Whitaker. He was old, with thin white hair and a long beard that went well past his chin, coming to a rest just level with his shoulders. He moved slowly, but he spoke fast, and with an accent. Roll was taken quickly, and then the room was quiet as the morning announcements began.

Double D took note of everything said. Most of it was about student clubs, a few he wanted to join. 'No Math Club?' He noted with disappointment at the end of the listing. Perhaps he could start one up. Though it wasn't very popular last year. He was the only member, after all.

Double D reached in his bag and pulled out his schedule and map. He had AP World History right after Homeroom. Being in several AP classes, he already had stacks of papers to turn in for them each that he was supposed to accomplish over the summer.

The bell rang. He stood up and checked the map for quick instructions. History classes were part of the C hallway, which was upstairs. Luckily his homeroom was A11, which wasn't far from the staircase. Double D was one of the first from the room, already hurrying to his class.

The stairs were wide, and divided through the middle. Students going up on the left, going down on the right. Double D was swept with the crowd, already upstairs before he could even blink. History was in room C12 for him. According to the closest door he was facing room C16, Just two doors from AP World History.

"Excuse me," He mumbled to several students who he bumped into. Eventually he reached C12. The class was small, with only seven others so far. Double D took a seat close to the door again, reaching for the folder of work he'd done over the summer. For good measure he also pulled out his large textbook assigned to him last year. Hands folded neatly on top, he waited.

Just seconds before the bell rang, another familiar face greeted him.

"I told you to take a left, buddy! You nearly made us late!" Jonny chided his friend Plank. He laughed then looked around for a seat. "Hiya Double D! Plank wants to sit next to you!" Jonny placed Plank in the seat to Double D's left, and Jonny sat to his right side.

"Why salutations Jonny, Plank. I'm surprised to see you here." He said honestly. Jonny didn't seem the type to be interested in an advance placement class. Jonny looked ready to reply but then their teacher walked in. This time it was a woman who looked to be in her late forties, maybe early fifties. Her blonde hair was specked with grey and pulled up in a tight bun. She wore a bright shade of blue lipstick, which struck Double D as odd. She introduced herself as Mrs. Larkin.

"As I take roll-call, I expect you to hand in your homework when your name is called, and bring out your notebooks. It may be only the first day, and a shortened period at that, but there's always time for notes. Especially when your first test will be this Wednesday." Two days from now, hmm? Double D made a mental note to begin studying immediately.

As soon as roll was taken, she fired up the smart board and opened a power-point presentation for notes on the Renaissance period. "This will act as a quick review for everything you've done on your own. You should know that at the end of each month I do notebook checks, so if you miss a day of notes or don't feel like taking them you better borrow from a friend, because notebook grades are a heavy portion of the final grade."

The class spent the next twenty minutes taking notes while Mrs. Larkin read them aloud. Double D had filled a good three pages with his neat slanted handwriting by the time the bell rang. "Remember. Two days until your first test."

"She sure drives a hard bargain, right buddy?" Jonny said to Plank as he passed Double D, who laughed quietly to himself. Perhaps World History would be a fun class with someone like Jonny in it.

Double D quickly looked over his map before leaving the classroom. He located D5 and repacked his map, on his way to the Art classroom. He wasn't originally going to take Art. He wanted to get his language credits taken care of first, but he'd been a bit late to choose classes. Art was one of the few left open that wouldn't interfere with the rest of his schedule.

But art wasn't so bad. And maybe one easy class would be a nice break for him. He was one of the first few into his class, again, and took a seat at one of the three long tables. A familiar giggle reached his ears. His eyes quickly fixed themselves on the door, finding Nazz and Kevin. The pair walked in.

"Oh look, it's Double D!" Nazz said. He groaned and sank into his seat, face flushing red. How did she of all people, notice him sitting there? "Mind if I sit here?" he jumped, not seeing her cross the room so quickly.

"Ah, n-no problem, it's not t-taken."

"Why are you stuttering, dork?" Kevin growled as he sat on Double D's other side. He shrunk further ion his seat.

"It's probably just nerves from first day of school." Nazz replied for him. Double nodded, agreeing silently. So far art was turning out to be less of a fun class, and more of a burden he'd have to deal with each day. Sandwiched between Nazz, the girl whom every boy in the Cul-De-Sac had a crush on, and Kevin, the bully he'd known since he'd first moved to peach creek. What fun.

"Whatever." Kevin rolled his eyes. Suddenly a huge frown formed on his face. "Hey dork, looks like your girlfriend came for a visit."

"H-huh?" He looked toward the door, almost afraid to look. Marie hadn't seen him yet, luckily. She was still talking to someone just outside the door. 'There's still time to hide!' He thought, sliding his bag in front of him and shrinking in his seat, shivering as each second passed. Kevin snickered. Double D shot him a dirty look and continued hiding until the bell rang.

His cover was blown when their teacher, a man with long brown hair tied back, took roll. He groaned when Marie looked his way. Luckily, just after roll, Mr. Vasquez informed that these would be their assigned seats. Well, almost luckily. He'd rather be stuck next to Kevin and Nazz than be stuck with... Her, at least. Kevin didn't seem too pleased with this, however.

"Ah, I'm stuck next to Double Dork all year?" Nazz giggled.

"You did choose to sit there you know."

Kevin grumbled to himself and crossed his arms, almost in a pouty manor.

He stayed like that for the rest of the shortened class while Mr. Vasquez handed out papers with the requirements for passing as well as their first art assignment, due by the end of the week. He also mentioned that they would need a sketchbook for use in class and for homework assignments.

Double D made sure to check his map quickly and mark a trail to English. As the soon as the bell rang he was already halfway down the hall, hoping to avoid Marie. He slowed down only when he reached the staircase, knowing full well the dangers of running down a crowded staircase.

"What a day." He commented, slightly out of breath, as he sat at the first desk he saw in the English Class. While catching his breath again he reached for the folder of English work he'd been given over the summer. Moments later Kevin entered the room, holding a similar folder. Double D knew he'd taken the AP English class, since he'd seen him when getting his book from the English office during the first week of summer.

He wasn't surprised to have him in his class this time, because there was only one AP 9th grade English class. Not many people sign up for them, just because of the work that has to be done over the Summer. What did surprise him, was that for the third time Kevin chose to sit beside him.

"You sure ran out of there quickly." He commented, sitting back and stretching his arms over his head. "Just wait until the school finds out you ran away from a girl."

"Oh, you aren't planning to tell are you?" Double D questioned. Kevin only smirked at him.

"I might, and I might not. Who's to say?" Double D sighed. Why, why, i_why/i_ did Kevin have to be so disagreeable? The two were silent until the bell rang, and Mr. Kirkland stood from his desk. He called names, and collected everyone's folders.

"Today I'm going to go over the requirements, and pass out your first homework assignment. I want a short essay on what you did over the Summer. At least three pages." He handed a small three-page packet of guidelines and rules for his class. After he was finished, he handed out the assignment and went over a few points. The bell rang, Double D checked his map, and then left for Lunch. He met up with Ed, as he walked out of his own English class, B5.

"Double D! I missed you so much I did!" He pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, much like earlier that morning. He stopped at his locker on the way, pulling out his lunch. Double D gasped for clean air as soon as he was free.

"I missed you too Ed. Shall we move on to Lunch, then?" Double D suggested. The two walked toward the cafeteria, stopping by his locker for his lunch.

He was quite excited to have lunch with both Ed and Eddy, as this was the only class they all shared. He had gym with Ed, but Eddy was in another class for 7th period.

"There he is Double D!" Ed pulled him from his thoughts, and to a table near the lunch line.

"Oh my." Eddy didn't look very happy. In fact he was almost boiling red with anger. "Eddy, you look displeased." He sat on his left side. "Did something happen to ruin your day?"

"Ruin my day? How about the whole year! I was just ambushed by the Kankers in Chemistry! Apparently I have all three of them, and they All sit next to Me! And it's the same thing in homeroom, just ask Lumpy!"

Ed nodded sadly. "I-I'm sorry to hear that." Double D gulped. Suddenly, Art didn't seem quite so bad anymore. One Kanker was better than three.

"It's not fair Double D! And my stupid teacher doesn't even listen when I wanted to move to a different seat!" He crossed his arms and fumed.

"There, there, Eddy, we'll figure something out." Double D said, opening his lunch bag. "It won't be too bad."

"Whatever..." Eddy grumbled, starting his own lunch.

After Lunch the trio parted ways and Double D headed for AP Algebra II. His heart sank a little when he found Marie was also in his math class, but was glad to be on the other side of the room, thanks to alphabetized seating charts. He turned in his summer work and was gone as soon as the bell rang.

He reached creative writing next, and was surprised to once again find Kevin.

"We sure have a lot of classes together this year, don't we, dork?"

"Yes, it seems so." Double D replied. It was rather strange to have so many classes with Kevin. The teacher went over a quick plan for the year, and gave them a few moments of free time.

When the bell rang, he found that he and Kevin had gym, as well. They both reached the large room at just about the same time. Double D shrugged and looked for Ed. They walked together again when the bell rang and parted in the chemistry hall. Double D was in lab Chemistry, while Ed was in a regular class, that didn't deal with chemicals.

Of course, there were only two classes that the gym class split into, and Kevin once again sat next to Double D, looking bored as roll was called.

'This is rather odd,' Double D thought, 'to have Kevin in nearly all my classes.' the chemistry teacher handed out a permission slip for their parents to sign, allowing them to work with the chemicals during lab days. The bell rang for the last time that day, and Double D went to meet with Ed and Eddy at the front of the school.

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><p>Cookies if you can guess the references.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The references from the last chapter:

Mr. Kirkland ;England from Hetalia

Mr. Vasquez; Creator of Invader Zim

For SzayelsPandaGirl, who seems to have disabled Private Messages, yes, you earned your cyber cookies~ I thank you for the nice review, as well~

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><p>"This stinks." Eddy complained. "Is it too late to switch classes?"<p>

"Actually it is, I believe. You'll have to find a way to deal with it Eddy."

"Yea well, it's not like you'd understand. You have what, two classes with Marie, and I have all of them at once! And did I mention Lee chased me around the gym today? Uhg!" He threw his hands up in despair. "Maybe we can go scam Jimmy out of his allowance and buy some jawbreakers."

"Jawbreakers Eddy?" Ed drooled. "Jawbreakers make everything better!"

"Yes, jawbreakers!" He rubbed his hands together. "I can see it now Double D. Three apiece! That's like a million jawbreakers!"

"Actually it's only nine, and I doubt Jimmy would give up two dollars and twenty five cents, no matter what the scam." Double D replied with a sigh. "But I'd love to hear how it goes. I'm afraid you'll be scamming without me today. I have homework to do."

"Homework?" Eddy groaned. "But it's only the first day! How do you get homework?"

"You forget I have an AP English class Eddy. Mr. Kirkland wants an essay by the end of the week. Which you realize is only a few days away. And besides that, I have a test to study for as well."

"How do you stand having to do so much work?" Eddy asked. "It sounds so boring if you ask me."

"What's boring to you, may be fun to others, Eddy. And with that, I'm afraid I must leave you, as we are approaching my house."

"Seeya later Double D!" Ed waved dramatically as Double D walked to his front door. Eddy watched with a frown on his face, wondering how he could stand having all that homework.

With a last wave, Double D slipped inside his house, and slid out of his shoes. The carpet was soft and inviting after a monthly steam clean, and he couldn't resist laying on his stomach in the living room to do his homework.

"This Summer, I... What did I do this Summer?" Double D pondered briefly, then recalled the exciting moment when he'd ordered a new Amscope Microscope and discovered several species of protists were living in the birdbath in his back yard.

"What else did I do...?" There were less scams this summer. He'd constantly found ways to avoid them, and attempt to stay on everyone's good side. Scams were definitely out. There was also the time his parents had both managed a day off from work to come home and spend time with him.

There were many scientific debates that day, for sure. He included his favourite one about the true placement of Algae in the plant kingdom. In the end neither side won, of course, but it was still fun.

It didn't take him long to have five pages worth of information on his summer. He wondered if perhaps he may have gone a little far with the descriptions of his microscope and his debate, but it was longer than three pages, which made him happy.

Moving to the computer in his room upstairs, he sat down to type. It was late by the time he was finished and would be able to edit it.

"I haven't made dinner yet, either."

The clock read six, and he was surprised he'd gone for so long without noticing. But shrugging it off as his excitement for school starting, he merely saved his essay and headed downstairs to make something easy.

He decided on spaghetti after finding a can of tomato sauce and a box of noodles. As he set to work, just next door a similar situation was going on.

"I can't think of anything interesting." Kevin complained. "I can't right three pages by tomorrow about riding a bike. Or listening to Rolf ramble on about the old country. Or about my burning hatred for my job."

"Well why not write about your friends?" His mother questioned as she sliced a tomato. "I'm sure Mr, Kirkland would appreciate a nice essay about your adventures with the Eds."

"Mom, I don't like the Eds." He sighed patiently. It was almost as if she didn't understand the concept of hate. There was not a single cell of her that hated that of another.'

""I'm sure they aren't all bad. Eddward and his parents next door or wonderful neighbours. He may be a little shy, Ed may be a little dull from time to time, and Eddy may be a little too much like his father, but that's no reason to hate them."

"You don't know them like I do, mom." He explained this several times before, but she never understood. "All Eddy does it try and take our money because he;s too lazy to get a job. Ed's just plain stupid, and Double D is too easily manipulated by the other two. For a smart guy he makes a lot of stupid decisions about people to hang out with."

"Well, have you ever wondered why they're the way they are? You never grew close enough to understand them. You need to learn to give them a chance. It's only been so many years." She paused for a second. "Weren't you supposed to be writing an essay?"

"...I guess so." Kevin slid off the large red chair and grabbed his notebook from the counter. He slumped at his desk, wondering why his life seemed so boring all of a sudden. He found his eyes wander to the window, where he caught sight of Double D's kitchen, where said Ed was standing over the sink.

He was busy with something that looked like a colander full of noodles. Knowing him, his essay was probably finished as soon as he made it home. With a huff of disgust he stood and reached for the curtains, wishing his essay was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Double D woke up at his desk. He was confused for a moment, wondering why his bed wasn't underneath him, when he realized he must have fallen asleep while studying for his Social Studies test tomorrow.

"I slept in my clothes," he muttered, a bit disgusted. Checking his clock, he realized he was going to be a few minutes behind in his schedule.

"I'll take the bus today, then, I suppose."

Though he didn't normally take the bus, as he preferred to walk to school, it was a good backup plan if he was running late, like today.

He quickly gathered his essay, still sitting in the printer from the previous night, and placed it his AP folder. His clothes were already picked for the day. A short sleeved orange shirt and his favourite pair of dark purple jeans as well as his Tuesday hat. His tie lay abandoned in his closet, after realizing it only made him a target for teasing.

After his shower, he stared at his appearance in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. A stray blonde hair fell in is face and he paused to brush the wet strand back in place with the black ones.

After the taste of toothpaste had faded, he made breakfast. A glass of grapefruit juice and a cereal bar, because he was running late. Soon after breakfast he found himself waiting for the bus, with Jonny and Plank, no less.

"Good morning, gentlemen." He greeted. "A fine day for learning, isn't it?"

"If you say so Double D." Jonny replied with a huge yawn.

-

"You're going to miss the bus if you don't hurry." Kevin huffed loudly, as if he didn't know he was running late.

"Just let me print this stupid essay and I'll be out." He turned to the computer screen. "Come on, come ON you stupid printer, No the paper isn't jammed, I just FIXED it!" He began to panic as his essay decided to stay on the screen rather than come out on paper.

"Kevin, I see the bus. Just print it at school."

"...fine." He didn't bother to safely remove the flash drive from the computer; instead he yanked it out and tossed it into his book bag, running for the door.

"Have a good day, Kevin." His mother said as he ran out the door.

"Kay!" He called as he ran full speed to the bus stop, making it just as the bus was prepared to pull away. Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked for a seat. Taken, taken, taken, empty seat. He was headed for that seat when he noticed Double D, again. It felt as if he were being stalked.

Almost every class together, a house next to his, and now he was sitting next to the only empty seat on the bus.

He sat down hard, crossed his arms and asked, "Are you stalking me?"

"...excuse me?"

"I said, are you stalking me? You're everywhere I go lately, and you sit next to me all the time. I want to know what you're up to."

"I hardly have anything to do with our schedule conflicts." He responded, inching towards the window under Kevin's glare. "And with all due respect, I believe it was you who chose to sit with me in class."

Double D flinched as Kevin's glare turned all the more sour, shaking with relief as he turned his head and stayed silent for the rest of the bus ride.

-

Double D was quick to locate Ed and Eddy, waiting by their lockers. Eddy tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

"There you are. We had to walk here without you."

"It was so lonely Double D!" Ed added.

"My apologies, I fell asleep without setting my alarm clock. I took the bus, instead."

Eddy blinked, and a wide grin stretched across his face. "You? Oversleep?"

"Anything's possible, Eddy." Double D checked his watch. "Would it be best to head for our homerooms now? The bell is prepared to ring in two minutes."

"If you'r that eager to be rid of us, why not?" Eddy shrugged. He didn't care, obviously, if he was late, but there was no use hanging around an empty locker, so he followed Double D to the fork in the hall.

"Have a good day, gentlemen,. I'll see you again at lunch."

"Yeah, yeah, don't be late this time, Sockhead." Eddy grumbled, parting ways with a sour frown as he remembered the fact he had classes to attend. Ed, however, trailed along with a happy smile on his face, ever oblivious to the challenge of school.

As Double D headed to homeroom, his mind wandered off in thought of his best friends. It was an odd mix, him and the other Eds. Where as he was effortlessly gifted academically, Eddy and Ed were less so.

It was a miracle he'd been able to pull them through last year. It had taken a lot of convincing with the teachers to hand out more extra credit, but it paid off in the end.

Especially for Ed, whose worst subjects were core classes, though Eddy had less trouble with mathematics. Specifically Financial Statistics and Accounting, which he seemed to excel with, much to Double D's surprise.

Then again, he was always one for the money.

The warning bell brought him out of his thoughts, and he remembered he needed to hurry to class. After shoving everything neatly into his locker, he turned and slipped through the doorway, taking his seat. He eyed Kevin's empty seat, wondering if he was going to be late, when just as the bell rang, and made it with papers clutched carefully in his hand.

"That was a close call, Mr. Lehrer. Please take your seat," Mr. Whitaker said, tapping his watch. Kevin nodded wordlessly and took his seat. Despite his curiosity, Double D didn't look at the paper sitting next to him as Kevin searched for a folder to shove to in.

"Stupid English class..." He heard Kevin mutter, though, leading him to believe it was the essay due later today.

-

Meanwhile, in another portion of the school, Eddy and Ed sat close together, nervously eyeing the trio of females waving and blowing kisses towards them from the back of the room.

"It's just like that part from Space Aliens from the Planet Brain-Snatcher when the brain-snatchers are surrounding the crew in their ship, Eddy." Ed described, biting his fingers.

"I never read that, but it sums it up just about right." Eddy nodded in agreement. "As soon as that bell rings, we make a run for it, right lumpy?"

"You got it Eddy." Ed nodded vigorously.

Eddy pulled his map out and searched for the trails he'd made the previous day. Lucky for him, his Algebra class wasn't too far. If he hurried, he'd make it in no time. Despiet sharing Algebra One witH lee, under the strict eye of the teacher he'd be safe. Ed, he wasn't sure. He said he had World history, which was an upstairs class.

"Good luck, Ed." Eddy muttered quietly.

He checked his watch, jumping out of his skin when the bell rang just as soon as he saw the time.

"Go Ed, go!" He grabbed his stuff and left, not checking to see if Ed was behind him before rushing out the door.

"Where are you going so fast, shorty?" He groaned when Lee's voice reached his ears. Speeding up , he didn't bother to apologize to everyone he bumped into. Never so happy to see a math classroom, he burst through the door and hid under the nearest desk.

No one else had arrived yet, so it was just him and the teacher, who looked from his desk and blinked, wondering if he should be surprised or if he was used to this kind of behaviour yet.

So he instead turned to the board and wrote up a quick warm up of skills from the previous year of math as the rest of the class filed in.

As his classmates took their seats around him, he grew less paranoid. He was definitely happy when Nazz sat in front of him. Even though Kevin was beside her, just staring at the back of her head made everything feel right in the world.

-

Ed was just as Lucky as Eddy that day, managing to get lost in the crowd despite his height and climb the stairs to World history. By the time he reached the top, his panic was gone and he could happily make his way to class. He didn't like world history, but it was better than being with the Kankers downstairs.

"Hey there Ed." A voice giggled in his ear. He yelped and faced Marie, remembering he shared a class with her.

"Don't kill me! I am too young to die!" He threw his hands in the air and ran, hiding in the world history textbook closet in the back of the class, like the day before.

"Ed," the teacher sighed. "Please, must we do this every day?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Pass your essays to the front of the room and don't dawdle." Mr. Kirkland ordered. Double D eyed his essay, hoping he hadn't written a terrible boring essay.

"You know he only said three pages, right?"

Double D glanced at Kevin, who hadn't spoken to him since the bus.

"At least three. I found myself something interesting to write about."

"What do you even do besides make faulty contraptions?"

"Well, Kevin, I don't spend all my days building contraptions like you think. I do other things, as well." Double D handed the stack of essays to Kirkland. "Like..." He trailed off when he noticed Kevin stopped paying attention. "Nevermind..."

His day was turning out to be silent and awkward with Kevin. But he pressed on to lunch, determined to not allow the other to ruin his day.

"I take it your day went less than well, Eddy?" Double D asked as he sat next to his steaming friend.

"Does it LOOK like it went okay?" He shook his head. "I hate school. It's so stupid." Eddy huffed and jabbed his fork into his mashed potatoes, lifting the whole pile at once as it stuck to the fork. "And I hate this cafeteria food even more!"

"You can always bring lunch like Ed and I, right, Ed?" Ed looked up from his sandwich and agreed through his full mouth.

"Ed, don't speak with a full mouth." Double D reminded before turning back to Eddy. "So what went wrong today, Eddy?"

"Everything," he sighed. "I was okay in math and then I went to gym. We did practice runs in our uniforms today." He paused. "You'll be wearing one of those, by the way." He shuddered. "Oleander yells a lot about the military or whatever and he actually encourages the bigger and stronger guys to beat on us little guys. And then after we ran, we played dodge ball and I think one of them nearly knocked my tooth out."

"You'll just have to show them you aren't a pushover, Eddy." Double D paused to take a bite from his sandwich. "You just need to step up and let them know you won't take it."

"You haven't seen the size of these guys, man. Remember when we were on the football team in middle school? They're bigger than those Lemon Brook guys."

Double D suppressed a shiver at that mention of that day. A sprained wrist was his worst injury from them, but that didn't count compared to the berating he'd received for letting the team lose. It was horrible.

"Maybe a nice diplomatic approach would be appreciated?"

"I doubt it." Eddy crossed his arms after pushing his lunch tray down the empty table. "Here Ed, you can finish it. I'm not even hungry anymore."

"Ah, thanks Eddy." Ed grinned, going for the glob of potatoes, which was his favourite part of the lunch.

Soon after lunch, Double D found himself in his Algebra class, hiding from Marie on his opposite end of the room. After the talk with Eddy, he found himself worrying about gym, despite his attempts to make Eddy feel better about it.

His only consolation was having Ed with him. And perhaps if he was on his good side, Rolf might be a good friend to have. But he can't judge what he hasn't seen yet.

So as Mrs. Paparizou handed out a worksheet, Double D focused on his new task.

"When you finish, raise your hand and I'll come around to collect it."

It was no surprise he was the first to finish, with Marie following closely behind. After that point, no one else finished until the bell was close to ringing. He was glad his easy class was coming up next. He needed a break from all this worry.

"Curse my overactive imagination." He rubbed his eyes as he took his seat in creative Writing. Checking the board for the warm up, he pulled out his notebook and started to write.

He jumped as Kevin's bag landed hard against the table, cracking his pencil tip on the page. Without a word he replaced the pencil and carefully erased the smudge of graphite. The silence between him and his table mate stood strong.

Double D was glad when Mrs. Dawson handed out a partner prompt to 'get to know each other.'

"You'll turn and face your table mate, and then write a short dialogue introducing yourselves. This will be presented to the class in an attempt to learn who else shares this class with you."

"Great." Kevin crossed his arms when the paper reached their shared table. "Let's get this stupid assignment over and move on already."

"Certainly. Would you like to start first?"

"What is there about me you don't know? We've lived next to each other since you moved here. I think you know my interests. And I bet I know enough about you too."

"Really, now? Considering we never were on good terms, I don't see how you could know much."

"Are you doubting me?" Kevin scoffed. "I know enough about you. You do all the contraptions for Dorky and Dorkier, and you do a million chores every day."

"That barely scratches the surface, Kevin. I say I know about you than me."

"Really? I bet you don't." Kevin narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, but Double D caught the challenge in his eyes this time, rather than annoyance.

"So tell me what you know."

"Well I understand your Mother is a Lawyer, your father was recently promoted to Manager of the Jawbreaker Factory, you have wishes to pursue a career in English, your love of bikes and repairing machines has led you to seek a job as a mechanic, but you don't want to pursue it after school. Am I on the right track?"

"Dude... Do you spy on me or something?" Kevin asked for he second time that day.

I don't know if anyone will guess the reference in this chapter. The hint is it has to do with teh creative Writing teacher, and nothing to do with the titanic. The other reference is about teh Algebgra teacher. Tell me her first name and her occupation for cyber cookies~

the last chepter references was in Kevin;s last name.

I dunno if I cankeep up with teh refs though xD I'll try and throw in more obvious ones, at least.

And as for how... Relativly nice kevin is trating Double Din teh end of the chapter, they're still not even frenemies yet, they just get along relativly okay when Eddy and Ed aren't around, liek in the show.


End file.
